Think Tank
'' |image= |series= |production=40840-214 |producer(s)= |story= Rick Berman Brannon Braga |script=Michael Taylor |director=Terrence O'Hara |imdbref=tt0708993 |guests=Jason Alexander as Kurros, Christopher Darga as Y'Sek and Christopher Shea as Saowin |previous_production=Course: Oblivion |next_production=Juggernaut |episode=VGR S05E20 |airdate=31 March 1999 |previous_release=The Fight |next_release=(VGR) Juggernaut (Overall) Penumbra |story_date(s)=Unknown |group="N"}} (2375) |previous_story= When It Rains… The Fight |next_story= Tacking Into the Wind Penumbra }} Summary As Voyager approaches a strange planetoid, the ship is rocked by its explosion and enveloped in a cloud of methion gas. Suddenly, a Hazari vessel is upon them, and Seven of Nine explains they are bounty hunters hired to capture alien crafts. When Janeway eludes the ship and it doesn't follow, she soon learns why — there are many reinforcements throughout the sector waiting to overtake Voyager. Late at night, a strange alien pays a visit to Janeway and introduces himself as the answer to her problem. Kurros explains he is part of a small group that seeks out problems to be solved. His "think tank" believes Voyager's challenge with the Hazari can be handled without weapons. When Janeway and Seven visit Kurros on his ship, they see his incredibly advanced technology and meet the other strange lifeforms, each with an intellectual specialty. Once Janeway agrees to do business with him, Kurros reveals Seven is one of the items from Voyager that he wants as payment. When Seven hears the offer from the think tank, she talks to Kurros herself. He appeals to her quest for perfection, but she declines to join his group. Soon, the Hazari attack Voyager again, but Kurros gives Janeway some tactical advice that forces them to retreat. When he tries to use that favor as leverage to convince Seven to change her mind, Janeway realizes she now has two enemies on her hands. Once the crew lures a Hazari vessel into Voyager's tractor beam, they download information from the database and discover Kurros hired the bounty hunters. Janeway explains to the Hazari alien that they are both being manipulated by Kurros and convinces him to work with her in tricking the think tank. The crew devises a plan to lure Kurros out of hiding by pretending Seven has decided to join his group. She will then link with their internal communications array, disrupting their systems and preventing them from functioning. After the ruse is in place, the Hazari contact Kurros and persuade him to increase their bounty to bring in Voyager. Janeway tricks him into believing Seven has left Voyager to join his think tank, but Kurros soon senses a trap has been laid. When he forces Seven to link with his telepathic technology so he can read her mind and discover Janeway's plan, a carrier wave is transmitted via her cortical implant. This creates interference and blocks his entire communications system. Once the think tank is decloaked, the Hazari converge on it as Seven is beamed back and Voyager leaves at warp speed. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Richie Vest Why did Kiros try to fool the bounty hunters. Why would they care? Maybe he was trying to avoid paying them! # Shane Tourtellotte on Wednesday, March 31, 1999 - 8:17 pm: I wonder why Janeway didn't bargain right off the bat for a swift return to the Alpha Quadrant. That's the first thing that would cross my mind--were I truly interested in getting home. Mark Morgan on Saturday, April 03, 1999 - 8:20 pm: Why didn't Janeway ask for a way home? She may have gotten the same impression from the think tank that I did: *They* pick and choose which problem they want to solve, not you.Plantman on Friday, April 09, 1999 - 7:18 pm: I don't understand why everyone thinks that Janeway should have asked for a way home. It is obvious that Janeway is skeptical of the Think Tank from the very beginning. She probobly didn't want to make it seem like they needed to much in case the price was too high. Besides, chances are you can't worry about trying to get home if bounty hunters kill you first. Also it turns out that the Think Tank wanted Seven of Nine. Janeway was less than pleased about that. Is this what you think the conversation should be like... JANEWAY-- You want Seven as payment? KURROS-- I think you'll find it advantageous to both parties. JANEWAY-- NO!! Oh but can we make a deal about sending us back to the Alpha Quadrant? The Think Tank would have asked for Seven again anyway. What would be the point. # Chris Booton on Thursday, April 01, 1999 - 4:00 pm: Voyager once again fires off several burts of torperdoes in this episode! I thought they had no way to replace them and needed to conserve them? George H. Daley Jr. on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 10:39 am: They must have found a way to replace their existing stores of torpedoes or they traded tech for alien ones or....something because by my count they used more torpedoes than they should have had left in "Dark Frontier" Brad W. Higgins on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 2:29 pm: Considering that they can design and build shuttles at will (including the DF), and can make extensive repairs to the ship from week to week, I don't think that creating a few new torpedoes every now and then would be a problem. Murray Leeder on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 2:39 pm:''True, but all the way back in "The Cloud", Janeway commented that there's no way to replace them once they're gone.''Chris Ashley on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 8:18 pm:''If I remember correctly, in Drone somebody said that they'd figured out how to replicate torps using Borg technology. Can anyone with tapes confirm? ' # bioforce on Tuesday, April 06, 1999 - 1:47 am: When Kiros first appears to Janeway, she calls security to report an intruder alert. However security never bothers to show up! Janeway never cancels the alert, so a team showed after showed up, you would think... unless the security teams on Voyager have gotten like the security people on ER...lol ''Richie Vest on Tuesday, April 06, 1999 - 8:15 am:'' Kiros had disabled the communication system Remember. So Tuvok and his security guards did not hear the call. Mike Konczewski on Tuesday, April 06, 1999 - 8:27 am:''You could even hear Janeway's communicator making the "out of order" noise when she tried to activate it.' # Q-Three on Tuesday, April 27, 1999 - 5:41 pm: This might go under the category of "already noticed", but why does Janeway feel the need to take out the Think Tank after their plot is discovered? The Hazari are no longer a threat and will turn their attentions to the T-Tank. So why all the fuss about getting them to stop? Why not just say "We know what you're doing, now go away."? '''Mike Konczewski on Wednesday, April 28, 1999 - 6:49 am: Because you can't take the chance the Think Tank will go away. They've already demonstrated how persistant they are by setting up this elaborate plot to get 7o9. ''' Notes Category:Episodes Category:Voyager